Many people take it for granted that they have two hands, but not everyone is so lucky. Some poor souls have missing limbs, be it due to natural causes or a violent event. As a result, several individuals must go through life with one hand.
Movies contain several such characters. The cause of their limb loss often informs their journeys. In most cases, they replace those limbs with artificial hands or other tools. How these handicaps become strengths is almost always interesting. That's likely why writers keep chopping.
8 Luke Skywalker - The Star Wars Saga
Among the most famous amputees in cinema, the Star Wars hero loses his hand through his own recklessness. Luke senses his friends' plight in The Empire Strikes Back, and the young Jedi rushes off to help them without a plan or the proper training. It's no surprise that he gets into a lightsaber duel with Darth Vader, which doesn't go well.
The Sith Lord disarms his opponent in more ways than one. Skywalker soon gets a robotic replacement for his hand, and it's even advanced enough to register some feeling. However, he probably prefers his organic one. At least he fares better than his dad, who loses both arms and legs before burning to a crisp.
7 Captain Hook - Peter Pan
People think that pirates primarily have peg legs, but those aren't the only limbs they lose. Captain Hook is living proof of that. The sworn enemy of Peter Pan, Hook loses his hand in a battle with the flying boy. That's not all, though.
Adding insult to injury, Pan throws the pirate's hand to a hungry crocodile. The carnivore likes it so much that he follows Hook wherever he goes. Not only must the captain subsist on a single hand, but he lives in constant fear of a reptilian hunter. If that's what Peter considers an innocent prank, what does he do when he's angry?
6 Azog The Defiler - The Hobbit
This character, on the other hand (sorry), does the hunting himself. In this Lord of the Rings prequel, Azog is a colossal Orc who tries to wipe out a Dwarvish dynasty, namely Durin's Folk. Thorin Oakenshield stops the Defiler in his tracks, slicing off his hand in a furious battle. Everyone thinks this finished him off, but not quite.
Azog eventually reemerges as the leader of Sauron's forces, shoving a blade through the stump of his arm. This pain fuels his burning hatred of Thorin, and he pursues the Dwarf party throughout The Hobbit. Despite his loyalty to Sauron, Azog is more determined than ever to kill Oakenshield and his kin.
5 Curt Connors - The Spider-Man Series
Here's a rare case where the character doesn't lose his hand. Curt Connors was born with one arm. Feeling inadequate due to this handicap, he grows envious of some animals' ability to regrow their limbs. This fuels his support of biological science.
Unlike the Connors of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, the version in The Amazing Spider-Man reboot acts on that passion. Connors tests his cross-species genetic formula on himself. He gains an arm but transforms into a giant lizard. That's quite a tradeoff.
4 Ash Williams - The Evil Dead Series
Speaking of Sam Raimi, the star of his Evil Dead flicks turns a tragic setback into his greatest asset. While terrorized by demons, the goofy Ash Williams suffers a bite on the hand from his possessed girlfriend's severed head. The sequence is exactly as deranged as it sounds, even more so when the infected hand turns against him. This forces the hero to cut it off with a chainsaw, but he uses that same chainsaw as a replacement. As "groovy" as that is, Ash eventually reserves it for emergencies.
Army of Darkness downsizes by forging him a metallic gauntlet, and the Ash vs. Evil Dead TV series upgrades this to a robotic hand. In both cases, he can disconnect the prosthetic paw and plug in the chainsaw, as it's still the most effective tool against the demons. Bet they wish they hadn't taken his real hand.
3 Furiosa - Mad Max: Fury Road
Furiosa makes a striking first impression with her shaved head and face paint, but nothing tells a story like her left arm. In its place is a cybernetic contraption akin to a claw. When she disconnects the harness holding it in place, she reveals a stump ending at the elbow.
Viewers never learn how she lost this limb in the fourth Mad Max film. One assumes it happened during her time with Immortan Joe. He took her from her clan as a child and forced her into his service. She's now a high-ranking member of his army, so one assumes she's survived her share of danger. Maybe her upcoming solo movie will elaborate.
2 Peter Pettigrew/Wormtail - The Harry Potter Series
This rat's selfishness befits his nickname. Originally a friend of Harry Potter's parents, Pettigrew sells them out to the evil wizard, Voldemort. Following the Dark Lord's defeat, Wormtail fakes his own death and later aids his master's resurrection. Granted, it's through fear rather than loyalty, but that doesn't stop him from severing his own hand in a sacrificial ritual.
Whatever the reason, Voldemort rewards his servant with a new hand of silver energy. That may sound neat, but this gift isn't truly his. The hand seems to have a mind of its own, one which is entirely subservient to Voldemort. This proves to be Wormtail's undoing in the Deathly Hallows book, where it strangles him for faltering in his service. Talk about having strings attached.
1 Bethany Hamilton - Soul Surfer
Here's the only true story on the list. Bethany Hamilton--the subject of this biopic--is training to be a professional surfer. One day on the water, she suffers a spontaneous shark attack. This leaves her without her left arm and nearly derails her life.
Thankfully, Bethany adjusts to this condition. She gets back to surfing by learning to paddle and balance with one arm. After all, a prosthetic would be cumbersome in this respect. As a result, she eventually achieves her goal of a surfing career. Considering the tragic roots of many one-armed characters, it's refreshing to see this tale have a happy ending.